Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson’s first foray into the world of animation, Fantastic Mr. Fox follows several wild animals (including Meryl Streep’s Mrs. Fox, Bill Murray’s Badger, and Jason Schwartzman’s Ash) as they’re forced to go on the run after an irate farmer (Michael Gambon’s Franklin Bean) declares war on their ringleader (George Clooney’s Mr. Fox). The degree to which Fantastic Mr. Fox retains Anderson’s notoriously off-kilter sense of style is actually somewhat astounding, as the movie boasts many of the elements one has come to expect from the unabashedly irreverent director (eg meticulously conceived visuals, a soundtrack bursting with classic rock, etc). There’s consequently little doubt that the film generally fares about as well as Anderson’s previous endeavors, with the pervasively easy-going atmosphere ultimately ensuring that even the filmmaker’s detractors will likely find something here worth embracing (ie the whole thing is just irresistibly affable). And while it’s hard to deny that the movie is sporadically just a little too quirky for its own good (eg a musical interlude featuring Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker as a banjo-wielding character named Petey), Fantastic Mr. Fox, anchored by the uniformly stellar voice performances and a surprisingly singular visual sensibility, establishes itself as a thoroughly agreeable piece of work that will undoubtedly have a far more positive impact on Anderson’s fans.

*** out of ****